Page 14 - Spirit of Islam-May'17

stated: “All honour belongs to God, and to His Messenger and those
who believe [in God]: but of this the hypocrites are not aware.” (63: 8)
After migration, the Prophet lived in Madinah for ten years. Time and
again he would face disparagement from those who had turned hostile
to him. For instance, Ibn Ubayy once said to his Madinan followers
about the Prophet and the Companions who had come from Makkah:
“Our example and the example of these Muslims from Makkah is as the
saying goes, ‘Feed your dog and it will eat you up!’” (Seerah Ibn Ishaq). In
spite of such provocations from Ibn Ubayy, the Prophet did not engage
in retaliatory measures nor did he respond verbally to the hurtful talk
from Ibn Ubayy and his supporters.
The approach followed by the Prophet and his
Companions in this regard can be summed
Muslims believe up in these words: Take it easy. Neither did
that the Prophet of the Prophet take any practical steps nor did
Islam is a complete he react in words.
model for them. This What was the reason for this unilateral
complete model, avoidance on the part of the Prophet? The
however, is not in wisdom behind it was that the Prophet had
terms of superiority a positive mission to work towards. Had he
of the Prophet, but reacted to provocation from his opponents, it
rather in terms of would have inevitably led to a chain reaction.
his offering a guiding By not reacting, the Prophet put an end to the
example in every provocation in the very first instance. In this
matter. manner, he found an opportunity to focus on
a higher mission without wasting his time and
energy on other issues.
The above policy of the Prophet can be summarized thus: ‘Avoid
provocation and continue with your mission in a positive manner.’ This
method of the Prophet proved to be successful and the result was that
his mission spread peacefully all over Arabia.
The strange response by present-day Muslims is because they have
made their Prophet only a matter of pride for their community. Due
to this, they have ceased to take him as a role model. It is only by
correcting this tendency will they be able to lead an honourable life in
this world. o

12 Spirit of Islam Issue 53 May 2017